page_title: Timeline of the American Old West
section_title: 1870s
hierarchical_section_title: Timeline of the American Old West / 1870s
caption_attribution_description: English: A portrait photograph of Martha Canary, better known as Calamity Jane.
context_page_description: This timeline of the American
  Old West is a chronologically ordered list of events significant to the development of the American West as a region of the United States. The term "American Old West" refers to a vast geographical area and lengthy time period of imprecise boundaries, and historians' definitions vary. The events in this timeline occurred primarily in the portion of the modern United States west of the Mississippi River, and mostly in the period between the Louisiana Purchase in 1803 and the admission of the last western territories as states in 1959. A brief section summarizing early exploration and settlement prior to 1803 is included to provide a foundation for later developments. Rarely, events significant to the history of the West but which occurred within the modern boundaries of Canada and Mexico are included as well.
  Western North America was inhabited for millennia by various groups of Native Americans and later served as a frontier to European powers, beginning with Spanish colonization in the 16th century. British, French, and Russian claims followed in the 18th and 19th centuries.
caption: "Calamity Jane"
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